08/10/11
Repubs seek no-confidence vote
It seems like ages since lawmakers were lining up to demand that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner step down, although Geithner-bashing was in vogue just two years ago on Capitol Hill.
The young Treasury Secretary, who turns 50 this month, never gets much credit for the (few) signs of improvement in the economy, but the heavy blame he got early on --from his pre-Obama administration role in shaping the TARP program to his championing of the stimulus in early 2009 -- also seemed to have dissipated by 2011. His recent decision to stay on with the administration through the 2012 election drew mostly perfunctory notice.
But now, after the credit downgrade and with the markets tanking, the search for a culprit is back on: Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) said Wednesday he will seek a congressional vote of no confidence against Geithner.
"Secretary Geithner repeatedly predicted that if the debt limit was not raised, the stock markets would crumble and our nation's AAA credit rating would be reduced," said Mack, who voted against the debt ceiling deal last week.
After Congress raised the debt ceiling, "The foremost global financial markets fell precipitously, and Standard & Poor's reduced America's credit rating," Mack said. "In short, everything Secretary Geithner promised would not happen has happened because we raised the debt ceiling."
Mack's move follows a similar measure introduced in the Senate by Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican and tea party favorite.
At the White House, the renewed calls to dump Geithner were deemed unpersuasive.
"I think that a statement like that, you know, doesn't really amount to much, because obviously they'd like a different president to be in office," White House press secretary Jay Carney said. " So the idea that they want members of his team to go shouldn't be all that shocking."
http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0811/geithner_under_siege_198341af-7749-4e90-8c06-d98ddb75162a.html
